Previous Commissioners had full rule over baseball, including players, dating from the K.M. Landis era.
That changed with the rise of the MLB Players Association, and the players group ran into an immovable force in Bowie Kuhn. Imagine, if you will, Rob Manfred, only a guy who wanted confrontation and made no secret of it. That was Kuhn.
Bowie Kuhn, 1968-84
Kuhn, an attorney, worked for a New York law firm that represented the National League and was thus considered a logical choice to replace William Eckert, who was forced out with three years remaining on his contract.